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Bat Form
Alucard and Soma Cruz can take the form of a bat in many games. Alucard naturally possesses this ability, being a dhampir, while Soma eventually develops it thanks to his power of dominance over souls. Game specific information ''Vampire Killer Although not a true usage of this form, Dracula, during the second phase of the final battle, utilizes a variation where he spews a colony of bats out of the mouth of a painting in his likeness. Haunted Castle Although the player doesn't actually utilize this form, Dracula during the final battle transforms into a swarm of bats in lieu of his usual teleport ability, marking the first time Dracula is shown using this ability. He will later use it as an offensive attack separately from his teleport ability. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse Alucard is able to transform into a bat in ''Dracula's Curse at any time by pressing ↓ and JUMP at the same time. Flying around as a bat allows him to avoid obstacles but consumes Hearts at a steady rate. Being hit by an enemy while in bat form will cause him to revert to human form. This is especially dangerous, as this ability is generally used to fly over big "bottomless" chasms which, if hit in midair, usually means instant death as Alucard will helplessly plummet down to his death if the player doesn't press ↓ and JUMP again fast enough. ''Super Castlevania IV Although it is never utilized or encountered in gameplay, defeating Dracula will feature a scene where the room that he and Simon Belmont are in has sunlight pouring inside, with Dracula turning into a swarm of bats in a desperate attempt to escape, only to be trapped in the rays of sunlight and have the bats collapse one by one and die before combusting. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night In ''Symphony of the Night, Alucard is able to turn into a bat once he finds the Soul of Bat relic. While in bat form, he will normally fly at a slow speed while consuming MP. The powerful Wing Smash, which causes his bat form to dash across the screen at high velocity while dealing out Hit damage, can be pulled off if the player knows the button combination (hold JUMP + ↑↖←↙↓↘→, release JUMP). The Wing Smash ability varies depending on the version of the game. In the PlayStation version and ports, it has a fixed duration and Alucard will automatically leave bat form after a short dash. The dash can be extended by re-inputting the command for the spell during the previous one, allowing a Wing Smash to continue until Alucard either hits something or runs out of MP. In the Saturn version, the Wing Smash won't automatically end and will continue for as long as Alucard doesn't hit something or run out of MP. Alucard can gain additional abilities for his bat form by gaining additional relics, including: *'Fire of Bat': This relic allows him to shoot fireballs while in bat form. *'Echo of Bat': This relic gives him a sonar which will allow him to see what is ahead in dark areas. *'Force of Echo': This relic causes his sonar to deal damage. If the Bat Familiar is out while in bat form, it will mistake him for a possible mate and a heart will appear over its head. Smitten, it will follow him much more closely, making it more useful. Also, additional bats will be summoned depending on the familiar's level (one additional bat for every 20 or so levels). If the Fire of Bat relic has been found, whenever Alucard fires off a fireball while in bat form, any bat familiars following him will launch a fireball as well. The bat familiar has no action to match the Wing Smash ability, however. The color of the currently equipped cloak, as well as the customizable Joseph's Cloak, affects the color scheme that Alucard's bat form will take. ''Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Soma Cruz can also take the form of a bat in ''Aria of Sorrow, where he can activate the Giant Bat's soul to do this. While in bat form, equipping the Flame Demon's soul (Hellfire) and the Succubus' soul (Death Touch), allows him to shoot fireballs; equipping the Bat's soul (Echo of Bat) allows him to use this ability; equipping both Blue Crow's and Red Crow's souls allows him to summon crows in rapid succession (although the limit of the soul is still considered). Throughout the game, Soma can find three ancient books, each of which give a hint about a particular soul combination that has to be used at the Top Floor. Ancient Book 2 says: "The second spirit is the King of Bats."; if all three correct souls are equipped while dealing the last blow to Graham's first form, Soma will then be able to confront his second form, eventually accepting his condition as the reincarnation of Dracula; then the good ending become available to the player. Giant Bat is the only one of these three souls that is not a random drop, being granted after defeating Balore. In speedruns, the Giant Bat Soul is used extensively due to how it affects wall-zipping mechanics in the game: Soma is pushed upwards when inside a wall in human form, while the Bat Form is pushed left or right. This allows for quick out-of-bounds navigation of the castle. ''Castlevania: Lament of Innocence Although the Bat Form is not an actual gameplay element used by the player, the ending of the game has Mathias Cronqvist turning into a bat after revealing he had turned himself into a vampire to spite God over Elisabetha Cronqvist's death and having Death dispatch Leon Belmont after the latter refused to condone his actions. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow In ''Dawn of Sorrow, Soma can transform into a bat by activating the Bat Company's soul. Equipping the Flame Demon's soul (Flame Ball) allows him to shoot fireballs while in bat form. Soma is also able to summon a Fleaman while in bat form by activating the Fleaman's soul (Hopping Man). Alucard could take the form of a bat in Dawn of Sorrow by selecting it as a sub-weapon. ''Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles Dracula in the third phase of his final battle will occasionally utilize this move to turn into a colony of bats. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin In ''Portrait of Ruin, instead of a bat, Charlotte Aulin can change (or make Jonathan change) into an owl by casting the Owl Morph magic spell to fly around, which is essentially the same as changing into bat form in previous titles, although no extra abilities can be acquired for this form other than just flying to access hard to reach areas. During the final battle with Dracula and Death, the former will occasionally transform into a swarm of bats, requiring Jonathan and/or Charlotte to jump high to evade the swarm. ''Castlevania Judgment In ''Judgment, Alucard is not seen actually taking the form of a bat. However, bat wings sprout on him while he performs the Wing Smash dashing-slash move, and during his Infernal Blade finishing move. ''Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls The Giant Bat enemy occasionally adopts the Bat Form (more specifically, the swarm variation) during the boss fight against it. Item Data Gallery Screenshots Lament of Innocence - Bat Form - 01.png|Mathias's (later known as Dracula) very first chronological bat form transformation in the series, from ''Lament of Innocence DxC Dracula Large Bat Form.png|A close-up of Dracula's Bat Form from Dracula X Chronicles DXC Dracula Bat Form.png|Dracula's bat form flying with the swarm, as seen in the introduction of Dracula X Chronicles The Arcade-Dracula-Bat Form.jpg|Dracula's Bat Form from The Arcade Animations DC Bat.gif|'Bat Form' from Dracula's Curse BDK Bat Form.gif|'Bat Form' from Boku Dracula-kun KD Bat Form.gif|'Bat Form' from Kid Dracula (GB) SOTN Soul of Bat.gif|'Bat Form' transformation from Symphony of the Night SOTN Fire of Bat.gif|'Fire of Bat' from Symphony of the Night AoS Giant Bat.gif|Giant Bat soul from Aria of Sorrow DOS Bat Company.gif|Bat Company soul from Dawn of Sorrow DOS Bat Form.gif|Alucard using Bat Form from Dawn of Sorrow Other media Count (Captain N) - 03.jpg|The Count in bat form in Captain N: The Game Master Captain N - The Game Master - 13.png|Redesign on Season 3 of the same show Trivia *In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the tail-like formation which the bat familiars take when following Alucard while in bat form is reminiscent of how Options follow the player's ship in the Gradius series. See also *Bat (enemy) *Bat Familiar *Bat Swarm, Bat Swarm (Lords of Shadow) (sub-weapons) Category:Bats Category:Form Relics Category:Forms Category:Guardian Souls Category:Aria of Sorrow Items Category:Dawn of Sorrow Items Category:Dracula's Curse Items Category:Dracula X Chronicles Items Category:Encore of the Night Items Category:Symphony of the Night Items